L’Assemblée nationale du Québec, the parliament of the province of Quebec in Quebec City
In early 2020, James and I booked a trip for October that year in Canada, partly because I was so enamored by his old blog posts showing the beautiful autumn foliage of the country. The plan was to visit Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal in two weeks. It would have been my first time there, and James’ first in nine years. Meanwhile, we did read about the outbreak that was unfolding in China, but we still booked our flights and train tickets anyway. It never crossed our minds that weeks later international borders were shut and our movements were limited, to a point where we had to be confined to our homes for quite some time.
When international travel was possible again, obviously we began looking up places abroad to visit. It started with somewhere relatively close: a week-long trip to Cambodia in late 2022, followed by yet another holiday in Vietnam and Taiwan a year later. Autumn 2024 marked our first foray into Central Asia with a visit to Uzbekistan. Then, 2025 proved to be another milestone as we began traveling together to places outside our home continent of Asia – Mexico was just as fascinating as I imagined it to be. And earlier this year, we went to Greece which was like a dream come true for both of us. But over and over again, Canada would sneak into our conversations of where to go next. We realized it was only a matter of time for us to eventually make the postponed trip a reality.
Finally, in early May this year we made the decision to try our luck again with the North American country. This time, however, we agreed to focus only on the province of Quebec, with Montreal and Quebec City in mind because of their rich history. Considering the situation in the Persian Gulf at that time, we looked elsewhere for the connecting flight as there is no airline serving Indonesia and Canada directly. In the end, we chose to fly via Hong Kong after factoring in regional stability as well as flight reliability and frequency. It was a really long journey, and by the time we arrived at our rental apartment in Montreal, we had been on the go for 36 hours with two stops, in Hong Kong and Toronto.
Little did we know that this would end up being a round-the-world (RTW) trip: a circumnavigation around the globe in a single direction – eastward or westward – where you would eventually finish the journey at your city of origin without backtracking. You probably wonder what happened. This began on the night we left Montreal when we received the shocking news at the check-in counter in the city’s international airport that our Air Canada flight to Toronto was cancelled, and that was their last flight serving the route for the day. This would have caused a major headache for us since we were supposed to catch our connecting flight to Hong Kong a few hours after our Air Canada flight’s supposed arrival time in Toronto. Luckily, 10 minutes later I received a notification by email saying that we had been rebooked with Qatar Airways that would take us back to Jakarta via Doha on a flight scheduled to depart in around 1.5 hours. Needless to say, it was a night full of running at the airports of both Montreal and Doha. I said to James this is probably how taking part in The Amazing Race must feel like.
Despite this crazy end to the trip, our relatively short visit to Quebec was truly worth the long flights. Montreal was even more enthralling and beautiful than I had anticipated, so much so I kept telling James how much I love the city. “I knew you would,” he responded with a satisfied smirk. I truly appreciate the seasonally pedestrianized streets which encourage people to explore parts of the city slowly on foot and enjoy the numerous summer festivals. From what I could see, this benefitted the local businesses as well. I also love how multicultural Montreal felt, and how easily almost everyone in the city switched from French to English when they realize that you’re from out of town – I somehow still managed to practice the very limited French I still have left though. We learned more about the city from a world-class museum, handsome heritage buildings, the exciting culinary scene, as well as the warm conversation we had over dinner with Suzanne and Pierre, the very knowledgeable couple behind the eponymous blog Les voyages de Suzanne & Pierre. These are only a few of many reasons I fell in love with Montreal, although the city is obviously not without its problems.
As for Quebec City, although its core area is significantly smaller than that of Montreal’s, the provincial capital of Quebec was beautiful from whichever angle we looked, with many centuries-old buildings from the New France period still standing today. It was also here that we learned more about the First Nations, especially the Wendat Nation. A visit to their reserve at Wendake just outside Quebec City really opened our eyes to their past ordeals and their perseverance in preserving their rich cultural heritage which at one point almost went extinct. Probably not surprising to you, we also tried many delicious traditional Quebecois dishes during our stay.
The deeper stories from Quebec will eventually surface among those from Mexico, Greece, and other places that I have yet to share with you. But for now, I will try to catch up with your latest blog posts while trying to recover from the jet lag. À bientôt!
One of the many charming corners of Old Quebec (Vieux-Québec) in Quebec City
Inside a replica of a longhouse of the Wendat Nation in Wendake
Le marché Bonsecours, the former main public market in Montreal
Some of the handsome-looking row houses in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, a borough of the city of Montreal
The awe-inspiringly beautiful altar of Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal
Sweet and juicy Quebec strawberries, a must-try in summertime
The skyline of Montreal as viewed from the Kondiaronk Belvedere on Mount Royal
What an Amazing World! 
Wow cool that you visited Quebec.
I lived in Quebec for 11 years.
The food and entertainment in Montreal was fantastic when I lived there.
There is so much history in the province and cultural things to enjoy.
Great shots of the province.
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I agree that the food in Quebec was amazing. It actually reminded me of Sydney and Melbourne where everything we tasted was really good.
And speaking of entertainment, I read that Quebec really is the cultural powerhouse of Canada.
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I’m so glad you finally visited Canada, and that you loved it. But I guess you missed the red foliage of autumn. You’ll have to return, and next time add in the west. 😊 Can’t wait for the details. Maggie
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I guess I just have to return one day and visit in autumn. I read that Etihad will soon start flying to Calgary. So that will make it easier for people like me to visit your city, and you to visit other parts of the world. I will catch up with your blog posts on Egypt real soon, Maggie!
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Oh good to know. We’re looking at doing a Phillipines- Indonesia dive trip.
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I don’t do diving, but from the snorkeling trips I’ve done in parts of Indonesia, I can tell you that the marine life in this part of the world is indeed amazing.
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Nice first post on your visit in our area and lovely photos. You did cover a lot in such a short time. Looking forward to seeing the upcoming posts. And I agree with Maggie that you will have to come back to see the fall colours as it is spectacular though it does vary from one year to the another. You might also want to try winter as that would be a unique experience for you.
It was indeed lovely to meet you and James in Montreal. And maybe we will see sooner than later in Indonesia (Suzanne)
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Given the limited amount of time we had, and some rainy days, I’m glad we managed to see quite a lot. You live in such a beautiful, dynamic, and fascinating city, Suzanne. I would definitely go back to Montreal in a heartbeat. Winter will be interesting, although I imagine I will have to pack more warm clothes.
I hope to see you and Pierre sooner than later in Indonesia!
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I loved Montreal too but am looking forward to learning more about your experience in Quebec as I still haven’t been there.
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It seems like many people love Montreal, which says a lot about the city’s appeals. I think my next post on Canada will be about Quebec City. But that will have to wait for a while.
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Oh you were so close to stopping by Toronto! You’ll have to let me know next time you’re in the area. 😊
Montreal and Quebec City are two lovely cities, rich with history and culture – and parts are reminiscent of old Europe.
It’s too bad your visit was a whirlwind but nonetheless you got a highlight of the best parts of the two cities.
Speaking of Amazing Race, you two should try out for the Asia edition! You surely would do well on it given your travel experience.
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I know! Maybe on our next trip to Canada we’ll visit Toronto as well. I will definitely let you know when that happens.
With the limited amount of annual leave I have, I just have to accept the fact that I can only focus on one region at a time, especially given the fact that Canada is such a vast country.
There was a time when the idea of taking part in the Amazing Race really appealed to me. But I think now I prefer to take things slowly and not rush around, because, you know… age. 😁
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Canada is definitely a place you can spend just an annual worth of leave on. Hope it happens soon!
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That’s true. I’ll definitely let you know if I have a plan to go to the GTA!
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I have a restaurant already in mind for you and J. 😊
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Oh, wow! You are a visionary! 😁
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Montréal has a special place in my heart, I love how nice (and sometimes slapdash) it manages to be. Quebec at large is great, the only place where Angine de Poitrine could’ve possible originate from. Looking forwards to reading more of your story!
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I had to look up Angine de Poitrine, and yes, they look like something that could’ve been conceived only in Quebec. I love how despite being a big city, Montreal has this French flair and joie de vivre that makes it so endearing.
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You captured so many wonderful photos from Montreal, especially the one with those vibrant blue-and-gold vaulted ceilings and intricate wood carvings from the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal. This place would leave me in awe because I am so used to seeing traditional European stone-grey cathedrals. When it comes to the city, I love how it has a unique blend of European charm and North American flair, as well as how green it is. Thanks for sharing, and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx
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The Notre-Dame Basilica was among the most special places I visited on this trip. I will definitely write more about it sometime in the future. I think you would enjoy Montreal too, Aiva. It has so many things to offer.
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Montreal is a city I like so much, even though I have never lived there. It sounds like Montreal really exceeded your expectations! I especially like your observation about the pedestrianized streets and summer festivals. Summer is really the season for Montreal, while fall is the perfect time to explore the rest of Quebec, with its beautiful autumn colours.
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It really sounds like I should go back to Quebec one day in autumn. I’m a big city guy, but what I truly appreciate about Montreal is it offers so much more than what a typical metropolis does. Not to mention its great variety of really good food.
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Fantastic: you did a round-the-world trip! It’s strange to think now that in the first days when it was possible for tourists to do this it would have taken 80 days.
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It can be surreal to think of how much we have gotten better at making travel faster and more efficient. But then people in the past seemed to have more time than us today. Oh, the irony!
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Wow what an end to the trip with the last-minute flight change, but now you have the experience of circumnavigating the world 😀 Canada is a crazy distance away from Indonesia. I am glad the long trip was worth it, Bama. I have heard that Montreal is a little bit of Europe in Canada, with the French influence it’s easy to imagine why. Summer is surely one of the best times to visit colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere 🙂 Looking forward to your travel stories from various places.
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There was a time when I was curious about doing a round-the-world trip, but I certainly had never imagined that it would materialize in this fashion. 😀 Parts of Montreal, especially around the old port, definitely had a European feeling to it, but all in all it’s still a North American city. I agree that summer is a great time to visit high-latitude places. Montreal was particularly lively!
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I haven’t been to Québec since I was 13(?), and I have little recollection of it, except for the fact my family and I went in the winter and it was absolutely filled with snow (literal feets/meters of it!). I’d made plans to return in 2024, but I ended up going to Banff/Calgary/Vancouver instead. From the architecture to beautiful skies, Québec is certainly alive in the warmer months, and I’m glad that, despite the delays, you finally made it over! Thanks for sharing, Bama 🙂
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Your description of how thick the snow was in Quebec when you went is exactly what I have in mind of how winter in this province looks like. And I don’t think I’m ready for that, yet. I really enjoyed Canada, and I can see myself returning to this country again and again in the future. If only it weren’t so far away!
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Very nice post. Québec as a state particularly appeals to me since I’m French. (And I have friends there.)
We went there in 2023. Both to Montreal and Québec city. (I could recognise some of the places.)
Thanks, terima kasih for the trip back.
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The Quebecois we met did tell us that there are a lot of French people in Quebec, which isn’t surprising at all. It’s a lovely place after all, and it offers something different from France, which is probably part of the appeal.
Merci Brian!
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The language probably appeals to the French, though I understand some of my compatriots can be a tad arrogant. (Not surprising, I know them well…😉)
De rien Bama
Cheers
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The people we met in Quebec (whom some I believe were French) were generally very nice though.
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Of course. There are also some French cultural aspects other cultures can interpret as arrogant. They (we) can be very blunt. Other cultures, particularly in the “South” try to “wrap” things up.
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Well, no country/culture is perfect. Each of them has their own good and less desirable aspects.
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We were in these two cities last fall! Loved them both. I look forward to hearing more about your time there! (Was Qatar good? I have flown with them several times and the service was excellent.)
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How lovely that you went when the foliage turned color! Did you also visit other parts of Quebec?
We’d flown with Qatar Airways to go to Lebanon and Jordan before Covid, and their service was indeed excellent. We also liked transiting through Doha because the airport was easy to navigate. We were supposed to fly with them again to get to Greece, but of course we had to cancel it because of the war. But the airline handled my refund request very professionally and sympathetically, and they were very fast too. When we unexpectedly flew with them again from Montreal, we were happy to find out that they’re still consistently good.
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Our trip was short but we saw a lot of Quebec City and a few areas outside. I HOPE to publish some new blog posts soon and this trip will be first since it was a while ago now. And yes, the fall color was lovely!
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I’m really looking forward to reading your stories from Quebec, Lex.
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It’s quite boring! At this point I am so far behind that I am just trying to get things down for my future reference!
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Others might still find inspiration from your story, though. 🙂
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Glad to hear you were finally able to visit Canada, even if it wasn’t the itinerary you initially planned for in 2020. And how fun that you met up for dinner with some fellow bloggers. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip. I’m actually about to have some Quebec strawberries for breakfast. We’re currently taking a road trip along the Gaspé Peninsula.
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I think in hindsight the newer itinerary probably worked out better for us since we only had two places to focus on. Toronto and Ottawa will have to wait — I actually intend to visit the latter once the renovation of the Parliament complex has been completed. When we were in Quebec, it was lobster season, and they were from the Gaspésie. So that, obviously, made us interested in visiting this part of Quebec too. If only we had more time. Have fund there, Linda!
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Thanks! And I know, if only we had more time!
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What a journey to get there and back, Bama! Glad to hear that you had a wonderful time in Quebec. I’m looking forward to reading the blog posts that will follow. Oh, and those strawberries look delicious.
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What a journey, indeed! But I would definitely go back in a heartbeat. The strawberries were delicious. But we also tried other fruits too: blackberries and wild blueberries from Quebec, as well as peaches and nectarines from Ontario. They were all really good.
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Now that we’re back home in Jakarta, I’m impressed at how much we were able to see and do in the seven (and a half) days we had in Canada. It would have been so nice to stay a little longer given the sheer distance and effort needed to get there, but then again I’m thankful we could still pull it off given our limited annual leave. I was surprised at how hot and humid it was in Montréal the day we met Suzanne and Pierre, though my brother did warn us about that not long before the trip!
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I was also a bit worried that we could check out only a few places on this trip. But I’m glad the weather kept improving as the week progressed, so we could maximize our time to see quite a lot. Of course, a little more time would have been better. The heat and humidity of Montreal on that particular day were quite surprising indeed. I didn’t expect to experience such tropical-like conditions in a city known for its very cold winter.
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Oh this was perfect timing, I have just this week booked flights to Montreal for later this year – we will be there in winter so will have a very different experience, but it looks a beautiful place to visit. I can’t wait to read more of your posts. I’m sorry your flights were so crazy, what an absolute effort in flight time you ended up having to do!!
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I believe you’ll also have a great time in Montreal, Hannah. It’s now one of my favorite cities in the world. The old French vibe, the North American modernity, the good food, the great museums, the beautiful parks… there are so many reasons to like this place. And I believe your flights will be a lot less eventful than mine.
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I don’t know much about the longhouses in this part of the world but am curious. How would you compare them with the longhouses of Borneo – the Malaysian and especially those of Kalimantan?
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I’ve personally never been to any of the longhouses in Borneo. But from the photos I’ve seen online, it seems like the main difference is that the ones in the Southeast Asian island are usually built on stilts. They also have more windows because there’s no winter to deal with.
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True. I spent a good chunk of time in 2011 in Kalimantan and was fascinated by them, even more so by the culture and customs. They also had intricately carved totems. Do the ones you saw have them as well?
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I have always wanted to explore more of Kalimantan, especially to see their traditional houses decorated with intricate carvings. Yes, the ones I saw have totem-like poles. The style, however, seems to differ from one region to another.
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Do! On that trip my favorites were Sulawesi and even more, Kalimantan – amazing cultures. It meant rugged travel but I happen to like those. 😉
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Sulawesi is such a special island, isn’t it? I love how diverse it is. The places I want to see are not necessarily the easiest to reach. But just like what you said, those can be among the most rewarding.
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Added both places to my ‘to visit’ list. Thank you for the descriptions and beautiful photos🙏🏽
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The pleasure is mine. I hope you’ll get to visit Quebec soon!
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